Donna M. Barnes

In this Mississippi divorce case, Paul Roach sued his wife Ilene for divorce on the ground of habitual cruel and inhuman treatment after she left their home in October 2022, alleging she had improperly managed his medications and taken property; Ilene was served by certified mail at her Texas address but did not answer or appear. The Coahoma County Chancery Court held a hearing in August 2023 at which Paul and a corroborating witness testified, granted the divorce, and voided a 2020 deed that transferred property interests to Ilene’s children. Ilene later filed a Rule 60(b) motion seeking relief from the judgment, which the chancery court denied. On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that Ilene had been properly served, was in default, and was not entitled to notice of the hearing; the trial court had conducted a full evidentiary hearing rather than entering a default judgment; and Ilene had not shown exceptional circumstances warranting Rule 60(b) relief. The court noted that the appeal was limited to review of the denial of the post-judgment motion and did not reach the merits of the underlying divorce decree.

family lawpropertyprocedure

The case concerned Mississippi taxpayers Billy and Karen Parrott and their business, Santa’s Tree Land & Wholesale Fireworks, LLC, who disputed sales-tax and related income-tax assessments issued by the Mississippi Department of Revenue after an audit. The MDOR determined that proceeds from the Parrotts’ sales of storage-locker contents and personal items—conducted alongside their Christmas-tree and fireworks operations—were taxable gross proceeds rather than exempt “yard sales,” resulting in assessments that included penalties and interest. Both the MDOR Board of Review and the Board of Tax Appeals upheld the assessments; the Parrotts then petitioned the Harrison County Chancery Court, which dismissed the petition with prejudice. The Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the record contained substantial evidence that the activity was a regular business operation subject to tax and that the taxpayers had not shown the assessments or the imposition of penalties and interest were improper.

taxes

Felicia Knight, an echocardiographer at Forrest County General Hospital, suffered a work-related slip-and-fall injury in June 2019 that damaged her right knee and lower back; she sought workers’ compensation benefits for knee surgery, permanent disability, and ongoing medical care, while the hospital contested the compensability of the surgery, the extent of disability, and apportionment. After hearings, an administrative judge and then the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission awarded Knight a 60% industrial loss of use for her right leg (after 25% apportionment for pre-existing conditions) plus a 15% loss of wage-earning capacity for the back injury, along with continuing reasonable medical treatment for the back. On appeal, the Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed the Commission’s order in full. The court held that the Commission’s findings were supported by substantial evidence, including unrebutted vocational testimony on reduced job access, functional capacity evaluations documenting physical limitations, medical records linking the injuries to the fall, and evidence that Knight returned to work only with accommodations. The appellate court applied its deferential standard of review and found no error in the Commission’s rulings on compensability, apportionment, or disability.

labor & employment

The Holifields sued Highland Community Hospital (HCH) for medical negligence, alleging that April sustained cervical injuries during a November 2021 procedure performed by hospital staff. After HCH moved to dismiss or for summary judgment on the ground that it was not a separate suable entity but merely a division of Forrest General Hospital (FGH), a governmental community hospital, the plaintiffs sought leave to amend their complaint to substitute FGH as the defendant. The Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court’s denial of the motion to amend and dismissal of the claims, ruling that the plaintiffs had failed to serve the statutorily required pre-suit notice of claim on FGH’s chief executive officer under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act before the one-year limitations period expired, rendering amendment futile. The court took judicial notice that FGH owned and operated HCH and that any notice sent to insurance representatives or HCH personnel did not satisfy the MTCA’s requirements for the proper governmental entity.

torts & liabilityprocedurehealthcare

Anthony Spearman appealed his conviction for aggravated assault after a Grenada County jury found him guilty of shooting at LeeKedrick Moore in a Walmart parking lot on July 15, 2020, wounding Moore in the foot during an exchange of gunfire. The trial court sentenced Spearman to twenty years in prison and denied his post-trial motion challenging the verdict and the refusal of a self-defense jury instruction, which the court found unsupported by any evidence. On appeal, Spearman’s appointed counsel filed a Lindsey brief stating that a thorough review of the record revealed no arguable issues for review, and Spearman did not submit a pro se supplemental brief after being given the opportunity. The Court of Appeals independently examined the record, determined that sufficient evidence supported the conviction and that no self-defense instruction was warranted, and therefore affirmed the conviction and sentence.

criminal law

Justin Hagan was convicted by a Neshoba County jury of aggravated assault after shooting his first cousin and neighbor, Tyler Hancock, with a 12-gauge shotgun loaded with birdshot from about 35-40 yards away while Hancock was bush-hogging on his own property; the trial court imposed a 15-year sentence with five years suspended. On appeal, Hagan argued that the circuit court erred by refusing his proposed jury instruction on the lesser-included offense of simple assault. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence, holding that the evidence did not support a simple-assault instruction because Hagan admitted he deliberately aimed and fired at Hancock (though claiming he intended only to scare him), the shotgun constituted a deadly weapon under the circumstances, and there was no evidence of negligence that would allow conviction under the simple-assault statute. The court relied on precedent establishing that use of a shotgun in an assault generally precludes a simple-assault instruction absent facts showing the weapon was not deadly.

criminal lawgunsprocedure

Bobby Wilson Jr. filed his sixth motion for post-conviction relief in 2023, challenging his 1994 guilty plea to attempted automobile burglary on grounds that there was no factual basis for the charge, that he was innocent, and that his plea was involuntary. The Warren County Circuit Court denied the motion as successive, time-barred, barred by res judicata, and frivolous, and further restricted Wilson from filing additional related pleadings in forma pauperis. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the motion was properly dismissed under Mississippi’s PCR statutes because Wilson had repeatedly raised the same issues in prior proceedings, including claims about the factual basis and intent element that were rejected in earlier appeals. The court noted Wilson’s express admission of guilt during the 1994 plea hearing and found that his actual-innocence argument did not overcome the procedural bars. It also upheld the filing restriction as an appropriate sanction for frivolous litigation.

criminal lawprocedure

The case involved David Patrick Boone's appeal of his convictions in DeSoto County Circuit Court on two counts of gratification of lust, based on allegations that he fondled his minor daughter Marcia after his 2010 separation from her mother. A jury found Boone guilty, and the trial court sentenced him to fifteen years in custody on one count followed by ten years of post-release supervision on the other. On appeal, the Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions, holding that the trial court properly admitted testimony from Boone's other daughter about a similar incident as evidence of a common plan or scheme under Mississippi Rule of Evidence 403, and that a jury instruction stating the unsupported testimony of a sex-crime victim can support a conviction if not contradicted by credible evidence was an accurate statement of law that did not improperly comment on the evidence when read with the full set of instructions.

criminal law

This case involved a dispute among cousins over 159 acres of Holmes County land that Sam Johnson had placed in a 20-year trust under his will upon his 1984 death, with the property to pass afterward in equal shares to his two sons and three grandchildren. After the trust period ended, those heirs sued in chancery court to quiet and confirm their title; several of the will’s trustees’ children countered that they had acquired ownership through adverse possession by helping maintain the land and pay taxes since 2004. The chancery court ruled for the plaintiffs, finding they held record title and that the defendants had not proved adverse possession, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The appellate court reasoned that the defendants knew of the plaintiffs’ ownership under the will, any potential adverse-possession interest could not have vested until the trustee’s 2011 death, and the 2018 suit was timely filed within the ten-year limitations period, rendering related defenses such as laches and unjust enrichment inapplicable.

property

Brittany Berry sued Jackson County under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act after being injured when her vehicle was struck by a car driven by Carl Young Jr., who was fleeing law enforcement following an attempted traffic stop on I-10. The stop was initiated after officers identified a stolen license plate on Young’s vehicle during a federal grant operation targeting traffickers and wanted persons; the pursuit lasted several miles across two counties, involved multiple officers attempting rolling roadblocks, and ended when Young crashed and officers fired at his vehicle after he struck a patrol car. The circuit court granted summary judgment to the county, finding no evidence that the officers acted with reckless disregard for public safety, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The appellate court held that the officers’ decisions to pursue were reasonable given Young’s active flight, increasing speeds, and erratic driving, and that Berry failed to present any evidence showing the pursuit violated departmental standards or created an unjustified risk. The court noted that ample record evidence, including officer testimony and the circumstances of the chase, supported the conclusion that no triable issue of reckless disregard existed.

torts & liabilitycriminal lawprocedure

In this case, Jeffery Ramsey appealed the Harrison County Circuit Court’s denial of his motion for post-conviction relief after pleading guilty in 2021 to felony DUI as a nonviolent habitual offender, for which he received a ten-year sentence. Ramsey argued that his guilty plea was involuntary because the State failed to establish a factual basis for his habitual-offender status and that his plea counsel was ineffective due to alleged coercion and collusion with prosecutors. The Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s denial, holding that Ramsey did not meet his burden of proving the plea was involuntary or that counsel performed deficiently. The court noted that Ramsey’s sworn statements during the plea hearing created a strong presumption of validity, he provided no supporting affidavits or evidence beyond his own unsworn allegations, and claims about prison mail tampering were not raised below and thus procedurally barred.

criminal lawprocedure

The case arose when farmers Chester and Linda Short sued The Break Land Company, LLC, along with a related hunting club and its directors, after the club suspended their membership privileges. The suspension followed the Shorts’ 2020 lawsuit against the club for crop damage caused by deer from club land and the club’s 2017 rule allowing discipline for actions deemed detrimental to the club. The Shorts asserted claims including corporate freezeout, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, breach of contract, bad faith, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The Bolivar County Circuit Court granted Break Land’s motion for judgment on the pleadings under Rule 12(c) and dismissed it with prejudice, a decision the Court of Appeals affirmed. The appellate court held that the complaint alleged no viable claims against Break Land itself, the company’s operating agreement created no hunting rights for members, and the Shorts had not properly sought leave to amend their pleadings.

business & regulatoryproceduretorts & liability

In this case, Woody Vowell sued James Cook in Mississippi chancery court for specific performance of an option contained in a 2017 warranty deed, under which Vowell had purchased half of Cook’s one-third interest in two tracts of Choctaw County land and obtained the right to buy the remaining half-interest after three years for a fixed price of $41,566.60. After a bench trial, the chancery court granted specific performance, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The appellate court held that the option was supported by consideration because it formed part of the parties’ integrated transaction, in which Vowell’s willingness to buy only half the interest was conditioned on Cook’s agreement to sell the rest. It further ruled that a valid contract was formed when Vowell timely exercised the option through communications with Cook before any revocation occurred, making the option binding on Cook.

property

James Hardy appealed the Madison County Circuit Court’s denial of his motion for post-conviction relief after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon. In his PCR motion and appeal, Hardy raised claims that his guilty plea was involuntary due to mental incompetence and threats, that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated by an allegedly illegal search, and that his Sixth Amendment rights to counsel and confrontation of witnesses were denied, along with related assertions of ineffective assistance. The Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of relief. It held that Hardy’s valid guilty plea waived his constitutional challenges to the search and seizure and to the sufficiency of the evidence, that his claims of involuntariness and ineffective counsel were either procedurally barred, unsupported by competent evidence, or contradicted by his own statements at the plea hearing affirming that the plea was knowing and voluntary and that he was satisfied with counsel.

criminal lawgunsprocedure

The case involved Timothy Pryer’s appeal from the denial of his post-conviction relief motion after the Itawamba County Circuit Court revoked his five-year suspended sentence and post-release supervision. The revocation was based on two violations cited in the MDOC petition: failure to report as directed and failure to remain within a specified area after Pryer moved to Missouri without authorization and was found living near a daycare as a registered sex offender. Pryer argued the violations were technical and that due process required a 90-day technical violation sentence rather than full revocation, and he sought reconsideration under Rule 60(b)(6). The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded, holding that the circuit court erred because the revocation petition listed only technical violations and did not charge Pryer with committing a felony, so basing revocation on an unlisted felony violated due process. The court directed entry of a technical violation order on remand.

criminal lawprocedure

In 2022, Sharon Richardson petitioned the Hinds County Chancery Court to confirm title to two parcels of real property owned by her deceased ex-husband, seeking to enforce liens she had filed in 2021 for approximately $99,869 each based on amounts allegedly owed under their 2004 divorce judgment, including child support, a car, and cattle. The Estate moved for summary judgment, arguing there was no enrolled monetary judgment to support the liens. The chancery court granted the motion, expunging the liens, and Sharon appealed. The Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the 2004 divorce judgment was never enrolled as required by statute to create a lien, the appellate mandate from the prior appeal did not produce a final monetary judgment or debtor-creditor relationship, and any claim was barred by the seven-year statute of limitations under Mississippi Code Annotated section 15-1-47.

family lawpropertyprocedure

Wiley Zachary Carroll, appearing pro se, appealed the Tippah County Circuit Court’s denial of his post-conviction relief motion seeking to vacate his guilty plea and sentence for burglary of a dwelling. Carroll argued that the indictment was defective because it named two individuals he claimed were squatters rather than the true owners, that his plea was involuntary due to the pressure of facing a potential life sentence on another charge, and that his habitual-offender enhancement and the court’s jurisdiction were improper. The Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of relief. It held that Mississippi’s burglary-of-a-dwelling statute requires only that the dwelling belong to “another” and that possession by the named individuals was legally sufficient, so the indictment provided adequate notice and did not need to allege or prove formal ownership. The court found Carroll’s remaining claims without merit on the record.

criminal lawprocedureproperty

In 2020, Roland Weeks filed a motion in the Harrison County Chancery Court to reduce or eliminate his periodic alimony payments to his ex-wife Deborah, citing a material change in circumstances due to the bankruptcy of his former employer and the resulting drop in his retirement pension income. The chancery court temporarily lowered the monthly amount pending a final hearing but later denied the modification request after reviewing the evidence, reinstated the original alimony award, and ordered Roland to pay Deborah $26,586 in retroactive payments for the period of reduced amounts. On appeal, the Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed the chancery court's decision. The court held that Roland had not met his burden to prove a basis for modification because the tax return copies he provided from his CPA were insufficient under the best-evidence rule, and official IRS records did not support a reduction in his income. The appellate court further found that the chancery court had authority to require reimbursement of the alimony reduced under its temporary order.

family law

Earl Bates appealed the Pike County Circuit Court’s dismissal of his 2022 motion for post-conviction relief, in which he again challenged his 1990 guilty plea to carrying a concealed weapon as a felon on grounds that the prosecution failed to establish a factual basis, the indictment was defective, his suspended sentence was illegal, and his counsel was ineffective. The Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal, holding that the motion was a successive filing barred by the three-year statute of limitations and the prohibition on successive PCR motions under the Mississippi Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act. The court further noted that the same claims had already been rejected in Bates’s 2019 PCR proceeding and that his illegal-sentence argument was also barred by res judicata, with no statutory exception shown to overcome the procedural bars.

criminal lawprocedure

In 2018, Eddie Brown pleaded guilty in Leflore County Circuit Court to second-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a felon, receiving concurrent sentences of twenty and ten years. In 2022, he filed a motion for post-conviction relief seeking to withdraw his plea, raising claims including involuntariness of the plea, ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, and actual innocence based on an assertion that the victim was killed by friendly fire. The trial court denied the motion as untimely under the three-year statute of limitations in the Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act and alternatively found the claims without merit. On appeal, the Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that Brown’s filing more than three years after his conviction was time-barred with no applicable statutory exception and that he provided no evidence to support his actual-innocence claim, given his admissions in the plea documents.

criminal lawprocedure